Ronald Charles Douglas Hanmer (2 February 191723 May 1994) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

conductor, composer and arranger of

light music Light music is a less-serious form of Western classical music, which originated in the 18th and 19th centuries and continues today. Its heyday was in the mid‑20th century. The style is through-composed, usually shorter orchestral pieces and ...

, who spent his latter years in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

.Philip Scowcroft
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accessed 20 November 2010 He was best known for his themes to the ''Adventures of P.C. 49'' and radio serial '' Blue Hills'', and is also noted for his large oeuvre of light orchestral and brass band compositions, as well as his arrangements of popular stage musicals. During the 1950s and 1960s he directed his own Latin-American percussion ensemble called "The Marimberos" on

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

and was, for a while, conductor of the Sydney Thompson Old-Time Orchestra for the programme "Take Your Partners".

Biography

Ronald Charles Douglas Hanmer was born in

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and studied at Blackheath Conservatory. Between 1935 and 1948 he was a

theatre organ A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films from the 1900s to the 1920s. Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements of ...

ist and dance band arranger. After emigrating to Australia in 1975, he was an arranger and conductor for the St Lucia Orchestra in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. Hanmer was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in 1992 for "service to music and musical education". Hanmer died in Brisbane on 23 May 1994.

Works

Hanmer's original works included pieces such as ''Bouquet de Paris'', ''Capstan and Windlass'', ''The Heather and the Thistle'', ''Heritage of England'', ''The Holly and the Mistletoe'', ''The Oak and the Rose'' and ''Memories of Hungary'', and original genre pieces in orchestral or piano versions such as ''On a Windy Day'', ''Limelight Lady'', ''Dot and Carry One'', ''Mosquito'', ''City Desk'', and ''Fashion Parade''. In Britain he is remembered for his ''Changing Moods'', which was used as the theme for the radio serial ''Adventures of P.C. 49''. After emigrating to Australia in 1975 he was surprised to discover that his short composition ''Pastorale'' introduced the famous long-running radio serial '' Blue Hills''. He later re-worked the piece into a longer orchestral work named ''Blue Hills Rhapsody'', a recording of which was made with the composer conducting the

Queensland Symphony Orchestra Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra in the state of Queensland. The orchestra is based in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's building in South Bank. The Orchestra is funded by private corporations, the ...

.Biography
musicweb, accessed 20 November 2010 His works for wind ensembles included clarinet quartets and trios, flute trios, ''Cuckoo Quartet'' for two flutes and two clarinets, ''Two Contrasts'' for oboe and piano, trumpet trios, ''Suite for French horn and piano'', ''Three Sketches'' for trumpet and piano, ''Suite for Seven'' (two flutes, oboe, three clarinets and bassoon), and a ''Serenade for Seven''. He also gained considerable fame in the

brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...

world, where his works are renowned as test pieces. For brass band, Hanmer wrote pieces such as ''Latin Americana'', ''Brass Spectacular'', ''March With a Beat'', ''Waltz with a Beat'', ''Mexican Fiesta'' and ''Over Hill Over Dale''. For smaller brass ensembles his work includes ''Praeludium and Allegro'' for trombone, ''Cavatina and Allegro'' for E-flat horn, ''Arioso and Caprice'' for horn, ''Flight of Fancy'', for cornet and euphonium, the fantasy ''Alice in Wonderland'', ''The Four Corners of the World'', ''Down Under'', ''Episodes for Brass'', ''Prelude and Rondo'' and ''Seven Up'' for septet, ''Prelude, Romance and Finale'' for brass quartet and the cornet quartet ''Foursome Fantasy''. His arrangements of musicals include ''

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'', '' Blossom Time'', ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' ( ) is an operetta by the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The Libretto, librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's ...

'', ''Viva Mexico!'', ''

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'', ''

The Chocolate Soldier ''The Chocolate Soldier'' (German: ''Der tapfere Soldat'' he courageous soldieror ''Der Praliné-Soldat'') is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, '' Arms and the Man''. The German language li ...

'' and ''

La Périchole ''La Périchole'' () is an opéra bouffe in three acts with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. The opera depicts the mutual love of two impoverished Peruvian street singers – too poor to afford a marriage ...

'' and his orchestrations of shows for amateur companies remain in demand world wide. There are Dramatic cues, titled "Tales of Drama" featured in

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, somehow 8 Dramatic Cues include (A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H) showing a dramatic moment. Among their famous uses are ''

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The Ren & Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', commonly referred to as simply ''Ren & Stimpy'', is an American animated Comedy film, comedy television series created by John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotion ...

'', ''

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'', '' Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years'', ''

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'', ''

KaBlam! ''KaBlam!'' (stylized as ''KaBLaM!'') is an American animated sketch comedy anthology television series that ran on Nickelodeon from October 11, 1996 to May 27, 2000, with repeats until November 2, 2001. The series was created by Robert Mittenth ...

'', ''

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'', ''

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Camp Lazlo ''Camp Lazlo'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Cartoon Network. The series follows Lazlo, an anthropomorphic spider monkey who goes to a camp called "Camp Kidney", a Boy Scout–like summer camp in the Pim ...

'', ''

The Mighty B! ''The Mighty B!'' (stylized in all caps) is an American animated television series created by Amy Poehler, Cynthia True, and Erik Wiese for Nickelodeon. The series centers on Bessie Higgenbottom, an ambitious Honeybee girl scout who believes ...

'', '' Animaniacs (2020)'', and ''

Green Eggs and Ham ''Green Eggs and Ham'' is a Children's literature, children's book by Dr. Seuss. It was published by the Beginner Books imprint of Random House on August 12, 1960. The book follows Sam-I-am as he follows an unnamed character, repeatedly asking ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanmer, Ronald 1917 births 1994 deaths 20th-century British classical composers 20th-century English composers 20th-century British male musicians Brass band composers British music arrangers British emigrants to Australia British light music composers Members of the Order of Australia People from Reigate